Water, A Scarce Resource

And while they were at the Radisson, over at the Princess - the observance was for World Water Day.
We may take it for granted in water-rich Belize, but all over the world water is a scarce resource and that's why world water day focuses attention on the importance of the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

To spread this idea, a Forum and a Fair were held today the Princess Hotel. The Forum included technical paper presentations by various individuals from several Government and non-Government Organizations and Agencies, while the fair had display booths by other Businesses, Organizations and Departments.

Anthony Flowers, Water Analyst - MOH"Today we are celebrating "World Water Day" under the theme "Water and Food Security." We are having different events to commemorate the day. We have a forum where technical presentations will be made on different topics relating to water and then we are also having a fair, where all the different agencies; government and non-governmental organizations have their different display booths showcasing the work that they do in the field of water."

Monica Bodden"Tell us the importance of World Water Day?"

Anthony Flowers, Water Analyst - MOH"The importance of World Water Day is to draw attention to the population all over the world on this very vital resource. As we know we cannot survive without water and therefore we need to let the public become more aware of the need for us to protect and conserve our nation's vital water resources."

World Water Day is being celebrated under the theme "Water and Food Security".

World Water Day observed, the PUC celebrates Belize's water affluence

Today is being celebrated as World Water Day. There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. That’s a lot of people. Belize joined the world in celebrating world water day. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in collaboration with several other organizations has planned a number of activities to celebrate world water day. Today opening ceremonies for an open day fair was held at the Princess Hotel and casino. The day was first formally proposed in agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Observance began in 1993 and has grown significantly ever since; for the general public to show support, it is encouraged for the public to not use their taps throughout the whole day. It is set aside to raise awareness of the scarcity of water in certain parts of the world and even wars that are water related. Director for water in the PUC Rudolph Williams was one of the members of today’s event and he shares more.

Rudolph Williams, Director for Water in the PUCWhat we are trying to do now is highlight the role that water plays in our daily lives. It was set up by the United Nations and every year, except last year, Belize usually celebrates this event and this year we want us to look at the linkages between water and food security and how the water continues in making sure that we have food on our able to eat. Any abundance of any commodity is usually taken for granted and here in Belize, we tend to don’t pay much attention to the management of our water resources and I keep telling my colleagues and other people that yes we have a lot water, but if we don’t manage it properly, we will end up with the most dirties water in the Americas.

Belize boast the lead in the Americas for the country that has the most water per capital, yet according to guest speaker Hon. Gasper Vega it distributed disproportionately.

Hon. Gaspar VegaBelize is the envy of the Americas; we gross the highest per capital water throughout the Americas. Belize is blessed with great wealth, a healthy nation with sufficient arable land. However, many Belizeans are unaware that nature has blessed us with yet another great wealth untold and that is water.

The organizers tried to engage students through a poster and essay competitions – Williams explains more. Water.

Rudolph WilliamsWhen I conduct tours, I usually tell my students that I appreciate their presence and I try to impress on them the roles that water resources play in their lives, because they are the ones that we can mould. We cannot mould the old people who have already made up their minds to misuse and abuse our water. So what we did this year was to engage the students in a thought process of the essays, where they had to research the linkage between water and food and we believe that if that research has impacted on the relationship that they have with the egos systems and water systems then we have at least won the battle at that level. I must say that this year, the research and the amount of participation for the essay level has been a lot better than previous years.

World water day for 2012 was celebrated under the theme “Water and Food Security: The World is Thirsty Because We are Hungry” Join the World Water Day 2012 campaign and commit to be a more responsible citizen of planet earth.